
were industrious and ingenious, the Grandees, by the Length of their Nails and the cramping of their Limbs, gave Evidence that true Dignity was above Labour or Utility, and that to be born to no End was the Prerogative  � 
of a Gentleman.
If the common Sort, by their Conduct, declare a Respect for the Institutions of civil Society and good Government; their Betters despise such pusillanimous Conformity, and the Magistrates pay becoming Regard to the Distinction, and allow of the superior Liberties and Privileges  � 
of a Gentleman.
If the lower Set shew a Sense of Common-Honesty and Common-Order; those, who would figure in the World, think it incumbent to demonstrate that Complacence to Inferiors, common Manners, common Equity, or any Thing common is quite beneath the Attention or Sphere  � 
of a Gentleman.
Now, as Underlings are ever ambitious of imitating and usurping the Manners of their Superiors; and as this State of Mortality is incident to perpetual Change and Revolution; it may happen that when the Populace, by encroaching on the Province of Gentility, have arrived to their
ne plus ultra
of Insolence, Debaucherry, Irreligion,
&c.
the Gentry, in order to be again distinguished, may assume the Station that their Inferiors had forsaken, and, however ridiculous the Supposition may appear at present,
Humanity, Equity, Utility, Complacence,
and
Piety
may, in Time, come to be the
distinguishing Characteristics --of a Gentleman.
From what you have said, it appears that the most general Idea, which People have formed of a Gentleman, is that of a Person of Fortune, above the Vulgar, and embellished by Manners that are fashionable in high Life. In this Case,
Fortune
and
Fashion
are the two
constituent Ingredients
in the Composition of modern
Gentlemen;
for, whatever the Fashion may be, whether moral or immoral, for or against Reason, right or wrong, it is equally the Duty of a
Gentleman
to conform.
And yet, I apprehend that true Gentility is altogether independent of Fortune or Fashion, of Time, Customs, or Opinions of any Kind. The very same Qualities that constituted a
Gentleman,
in the first Age of the World, are permanently, invariably, and indispensably necessary to the Constitution of the same Character, to the End of Time.
By what you say, I perceive that we have not yet touch'd on your
most reverable of all Characters.
I am quite impatient to hear your Definition, or rather Description of your favourite
Gentleman.
The very first Time you tire, I will indulge you, if you desire it.
CHAP.
